As some of the largest energy users in the world, businesses have a critical role in the transition to a low carbon economy. The private sector has reached a tipping point: in the US, nearly half of America’s largest companies have a climate or clean energy goal. The wide consensus across boardrooms in every state is that renewable energy and sustainable development are critical elements in any successful business strategy.
But it wasn’t always this way. Marty Spitzer clearly recalls a different landscape 25 years ago when he began working with the private sector to drive sustainable business solutions. It wasn’t easy, but fortunately, in both business and science, numbers don’t lie, and market forces have become the wind at our backs.
As a senior director of climate and renewable energy at WWF, Marty leads the organization’s efforts to accelerate corporate leadership on climate and energy. He championed the development of the Renewable Energy Buyers Alliance and the Corporate Renewable Energy Buyers’ Principles. He has been instrumental in building and launching “We Are Still In,” a movement which now comprises over 3,600 businesses, mayors, governors, higher education and faith leaders supporting the Paris Agreement.
Under Marty’s leadership, WWF helps companies and cities to set and meet science-based targets to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, develop low-carbon business models, and advocate for ambitious climate policies—with results that demonstrate curbing climate pollution can go hand-in-hand with economic growth.
Marty has extensive legislative and executive branch experience. Prior to his position at WWF, he served on the Science Committee in the US House of Representatives, as executive director of the President’s Council on Sustainable Development at the White House, and in a variety of senior policy roles at the US Environmental Protection Agency.
Marty has a J.D. from the University of Buffalo Law School and a Ph.D. in Policy Management from the University of Buffalo School of Management. He has served on the Board of the ACS’s Green Chemistry Institute and in leadership roles in American Bar Association Committees.
